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Palestine

July 27, 2026

Al Bīrah 12:03 pm

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Flags of Spain and Argentina

Culture

How Argentina-Spain World Cup final became debate over Israel, Palestine

Governments and fans alike have turned teams and players into symbols of political division.

Government Media Office Director Ismail Thawabteh (R) and Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem (L) speak at a press conference.

Explainer

What does Hamas' move to dissolve its Gaza government mean?

Hamas has agreed to hand civilian administration over to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, but the committee is not yet in Gaza and may not deploy until Hamas’ disarmament is resolved.

Joint List Party leader Ayman Odeh attends a meeting on April 5, 2021 in Jerusalem, Israel.

Interview

Ayman Odeh says Arab parties could back Bennett or Eisenkot to block Netanyahu

In an interview with Al-Monitor, head of the Arab-Israeli Hadash-Ta'al Knesset faction, Ayman Odeh, said his party is prepared to make difficult decisions to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Ayman Odeh

Head of the Knesset's Hadash-Ta'al faction

Latest News

Who is Melat Kiros, the pro-Palestinian who unseated a longtime Democrat?

Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

Amnesty International accuses Israel of state-led ethnic cleansing in West Bank

Israeli security forces attempt to disperse Palestinians who had gathered to protest the reported burning of land by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Idna, west of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, on June 5, 2026.

Ireland bans hard-line Israeli ministers Ben-Gvir, Smotrich: What to know

Israeli policemen surround Israeli Minister of National Security and far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir as he arrives outside the Damascus Gate of the walled Old City of Jerusalem on May 26, 2025, during a flag march for Jerusalem Day, commemorating the Israeli army's 1967 capture of the city's eastern sector during the Arab-Israeli war.

Record Israeli arms exports highlight global rush for air defense

People stand in front of the Arrow 3 shield system during an event of the German Air Force to declare the Initial Operating Capability for the Arrow Weapon System for Germany at the Annaburger Heide Air Base in Schoenewalde / Holzdorf, eastern Germany, on Dec. 3, 2025.

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Daoud Kuttab

Palestine Columnist

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

Rasha Abou Jalal

In Gaza City, reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Abeer Ayyoub

In Istanbul, reporting on Palestine

Naima Morelli

In Rome, reporting on Middle East culture

Fatima AbdulKarim

In Ramallah, reporting on the West Bank

Inside Egypt's cease-fire efforts

Egypt's attempts to broker a cease-fire in Gaza show its commitment to regaining its regional role.

No escape for civilians in Gaza

Al-Monitor reports from the scene of several bombings as Israel's bombardment of Gaza's civilian areas continues.

A smoke trail is seen as a rocket is launched from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel July 15, 2014. Israel resumed air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after agreeing to an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire deal that failed to get Hamas militants to halt rocket attacks. The week-old conflict seemed to be at a turning point, with Hamas defying Arab and Western calls to cease fire and Israel threatening to step up an offensive that could include an invasion of the densely populated enclave of 1.8 million.

What is Hezbollah learning from Hamas?

Any action taken by Hamas against Israel is likely being carefully studied by Hezbollah for future conflict purposes.

Palestinian protesters argue with Israeli soldiers during a protest against the Israeli air strikes in Gaza strip, at Hawara checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, July 14, 2014. Palestinian militants resumed rocket attacks on Tel Aviv on Monday after a 24-hour lull in strikes on the Israeli commercial capital, and Israel kept up its air and naval bombardments of the Gaza Strip despite growing international pressure for a ceasefire. Around half a dozen Israelis have been wounded since the start of th

Gazans in West Bank fear for their loved ones

Roughly 15,000 Gazans live in Ramallah and are gripped with fear each time Israel strikes civilian targets in the Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian member of the Al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, gives a speech during a rally marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas, in Gaza City December 8, 2012. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, in an uncompromising speech during his first ever visit to Gaza after decades of exile, told a mass rally on Saturday he would never recognise Israel and pledged to "free the land of Palestine inch by inch". REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY CIVIL UNREST) -

The delusion of Hamas' military wing

Unlike Hamas’ political wing, its military wing is convinced that a group of suicide bombers can "overpower Israel."

Smoke billows from a beach shack following an Israeli military strike, on July 16, 2014 in Gaza City which killed four children, medics said. All four were on the beach when the attack took place, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said, with several injured children taking refuge at a nearby hotel where journalists were staying. AFP PHOTO / THOMAS COEX (Photo credit should read THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images)

Israeli jurist says killing civilians not always a war crime

On the backdrop of Operation Protective Edge, former Shin Bet legal adviser Eli Bahar outlines the legal concepts involved in warfare and the boundaries of permissible IDF actions in Gaza according to international law.

Smoke trails are seen as rockets are launched towards Israel from the northern Gaza Strip July 12, 2014. Hamas militants launched ten rockets at Tel Aviv on Saturday, causing no casualties or damage, in the largest salvo yet on Israel's main business hub, since Israel launched its Gaza offensive against the Islamist group, five days ago. Picture shot using a long exposure. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3YB6I

Did Iran train Gaza rocket makers?

While Iran was unable to smuggle rockets in, sources claim Tehran instead trained Gaza Strip groups to make their own.

'A Separation' director criticized in Iran for Gaza Facebook post

A widely-shared photo of Iranian director Asghar Farhadi and a human rights lawyer posing with a banner simply condemning “killing” in Gaza has caused controversy in Iran.

Police explosive experts load the remains of a rocket into a van after it was intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome aerial defense system, in Tel Aviv July 11, 2014. Israeli air strikes on Gaza killed four more Palestinians before dawn on Friday, raising the death toll from the four day offensive to at least 85, while a Palestinian rocket hit a fuel tanker at an Israeli petrol station causing a huge blaze. REUTERS/Yaron Brener/Ynet (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY CONFLICT) ISRAEL OUT. NO COMMERCI

With little help from Iran, Hamas fights Israel with homemade rockets

Hamas’ rockets are locally produced and lacking a qualitative edge due to Iran’s decision to cut military support to the Islamist movement.

Israeli security personnel look at a window damaged by shrapnel after a short-range rocket landed on Tuesday near the Erez crossing July 16, 2014. An Israeli civilian was killed by the rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the military said, the first Israeli fatality in more than a week of fighting with Palestinian militants. The Islamist group Hamas that rules Gaza claimed responsibility for launching the short-range rocket that struck an area along the border with Gaza. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (I

In Gaza, Israel blinded by Hamas

Many Israelis support the Israel Defense Forces' air attacks on Gaza, unaware that the majority of Gaza residents do not seek the destruction of Israel, and that several young people even condemn the Hamas rule of the Gaza Strip.

Gaza families flee Israeli bombing of their homes

Israeli strikes have destroyed hundreds of Gaza homes while residents sought shelter in UNRWA centers.

Why did Hamas ignore cease-fire?

Once again, Israel has underestimated Hamas.